Ganga tells West Indies to follow Chanderpaul's lead

West Indies captain Daren Ganga said the side should look to the example of Shivnarine Chanderpaul if they wanted to end their winless run in Test cricket.

Defeat in the fourth and final Test against England by seven wickets at the Riverside sealed a 3-0 series loss for West Indies and extended their streak without a win at this level to 20 matches since they beat Pakistan by 276 runs in Barbados in May 2005.

Chanderpaul, however, maintained his standards. The 32-year-old Guyanese left-handed batsman scored 446 runs in the series with two centuries, the only hundreds managed by a West Indies batsman in the four Tests, at an exceptionally high average of 148.66.

In the process he went nearly 18 hours without being dismissed and, although on the losing side, he was named man-of-the-match at the Riverside on Tuesday after innings of 136 not out and 70.

"It's always difficult as a player when you put in a big effort and there is nothing to show for it from a team perspective," said Ganga. "Shiv is a team player, he's someone who fights for the sake of the team.

"His batting in this series has been tremendous and we all need to take a page out of his book, the manner in which he commits himself to cricket."

Former skipper Chanderpaul said there was no secret to his success. "As a batter you have to want to bat. That is the attitude and you should make it a habit if you can."

Ganga's own form slumped after he took over the captaincy from the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan and he scored just 11 runs in four innings after being appointed to the post.

"Half-way through the tour, I really never expected to have that responsibility.

"Assessing myself after this series is something I will do, to realise where I went wrong and the ways I can improve."

Ganga, not selected for the upcoming one-day series against England where Chris Gayle will captain the team instead, said West Indies were getting closer to ending their barren spell in Test cricket.

"We are definitely improving. West Indian culture is very unique. We need to appreciate that and to find ways, slowly and gradually, of changing that relaxed sort of mode into a more professional mode and I think we are well on the way."

He cited the narrow loss against New Zealand in Auckland in 2004 and the third Test defeat in this series by 60 runs at Old Trafford as evidence that West Indies were getting closer to a Test win.

But he admitted England's first innings recovery from 165 for six, thanks to a partnership of 169 between all-rounder Paul Collingwood, who made 128 on his Durham home ground, and Matthew Prior (62), was an example of West Indies' lack of consistency.

"We had England on the ropes and weren't able to get that breakthrough against Collingwood and Prior. These are things we need to revisit."